The Trinity Congregation of Shanghai made a substantial donation to Heart to Heart, a charitable organization based in the city to sponsor 6 children to have much needed Heart surgery. Here are their stories:

(note: the families have all given permission for their stories to be told and their photographs used)

Wu Shiyu is a 3 year old girl. She was diagnosed with congenital heart disease when she was six months old. The doctors advised her family that she needed heart surgery, but being a low income family they did not have the savings or the ability to borrow money to pay the surgery costs.

Wu Shiyu lives with her family (grandparents, parents and a 2 year old sister) in rural Guizhou province in a wooden home they built themselves. Both grandparents are old and require medication. The mother takes care of the elderly and children. They usually make an annual income of around RMB 25,000 from farming their 4 mu of land on which the father grows chilli peppers. They have a RMB 50,000 debt, which is money that they borrowed from the bank to cover the costs of renting their farm land. The money they make is spent on general living expenses and repaying their loan. They have had no ability to pay for Wu Shiyu’s heart surgery.

Our donation enabled her to have heart surgery on October 17.

Tian Xiaorong is a 9 year old girl from Guizhou province. When she was 4 years old, she was diagnosed with congenital heart problems. Her parents were told that she needed heart surgery, but they weren’t able to raise the money.

There are 9 members in Tian Xiaorong’s Tujia minority family – the grandmother, the parents, four brothers (ages 20,19,17,15), one 13 year old sister and Tian Xiaorong. The father works part-time on a local construction site and the mother works in a local factory. Between them they make an annual income of RMB 35,000. All six children are currently in school. The eldest son is attending college, their oldest daughter is attending vocational school and the others are attending middle and primary schools. Their tuition and living expenses are a significant expense to the family. They rent a house in the county town for RMB400/month so the children can go to school. It was not possible for them to raise or borrow enough money for the surgery that Tian Xiaorong needed.

Our donation enabled her to have her surgery on October 18.

Zhang Xinyi is a 7 year old girl from Guizhou province. Two days after her birth, she had jaundice. Her parents took her for a medical exam during which she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. They have never been able to save enough to provide the heart surgery that was advised.

Zhang Xinyi lives with her grandparents, parents and a 5 year old brother in a self-built home in rural Guizhou province. The family is a mixed Tujia and Miao minority family. The grandmother has lung cancer and needs chemotherapy. The mother takes care of the elderly and the children. The father made the family’s only income of around RMB 25,000/year by working part-time at a construction site in Zhenjiang province. He isn’t working at the moment, however, since he returned home due to Zhang Xinyi’s need for surgery. To cover medical expenses for the grandmother, the family previously borrowed RMB 100,000 and are trying to repay this debt. They were not able to get another loan to pay for Zhang Xinyi’s heart surgery.

She had her heart surgery on October 17 because of our donation.

Cao Shuling is a 2 year old girl from Guizhou province. She was diagnosed with the congenital heart diseases VSD and ASD at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University just one month after birth. The family was told that she would need heart surgery in the relatively near future to prevent serious consequences. They have not been able to afford it.

Cao Shuling comes from a family of 6 – grandmother, parents, 2 aunts and herself. Both her parents are migrant workers living in Zhejiang Province. They make a combined annual income of RMB 35,000. They rent a house for RMB 4,500/year so Cao Shuling can live with them. They financially support the two aunts who are both studying in college and the grandmother, who lives in their hometown in Guizhou. All the parents’ earnings are spent on general living costs and support. They were unable to save enough money or get a loan to pay for the heart surgery that Cao Shuling needed.

She had the heart surgery that she needed on October 16.

Li Songlin is a 6 year old boy from Guizhou province. Recently, Li Songlin had a persistent cold and fever. He was taken to the local county hospital and diagnosed with congenital heart disease. He also has a chest wall deformity and a congenital hand disability. The doctors told the family that he needed heart surgery, but they couldn’t afford it.

Li Songlin lives with his mother, grandmother and a 5 year old brother in a self-built house in rural Guizhou province. They are of the Gelao minority. The mother takes care of the grandmother and children. The father is a migrant construction worker and earns the family’s only income of around RMB 20,000 annually. He lives a frugal lifestyle, spends very little and sends most of his money home to support the family. The family borrowed RMB 50,000 to help them pay medical costs mainly for an elderly grandfather who has now passed away. With such a low annual income it is difficult for the family to pay off their loan. They also weren’t able to get a loan for the heart surgery that Li Songlin needed.

We provided him with heart surgery on October 17.

Wang Chengbo is a 4 year old boy from Guizhou province. When he was first born, his family took him to the local county maternal and child health center because he had an irregular heartbeat. He was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. At the same time, it was discovered he had only one kidney. Since his family was unable to pay for the heart surgery he needed, the problems have delayed his development.

Wang Chengbo lives with his Miao minority family of 5 – grandparents, parents and himself – in a self-built wooden house in rural Guizhou province. His grandparents help with household chores and do some farming to help feed the family. The mother takes care of the family. The father works part-time on a construction site in Fujian province making an annual income of around RMB 25,000. Both his work and his income are unstable. He currently lives on the construction site. He sends as much money as he can home to the family. They were unable to get a loan to pay for the heart surgery Wang Chengbo needed.

He was able to have his surgery on October 18.

The Trinity Board was offered an opportunity to visit the children in hospital but by the time we were able to make the arrangements only this last little chappie Wang Chengbo was still here. Nevertheless, Ai Lin and I made the long journey down Line 9 to the Shanghai Yida Hospital in the QingPu district to visit him. It was a very modern hospital and we were greatly impressed with the facilities.

We brought gifts of fresh fruit and a winter jacket for Chengbo but as it turned in out he wasnt all that impressed to see us as he was removed from the middle of a Halloween party which Heart to Heart and volunteers were putting on for all the children in the play room! He reluctantly agreed to stand with us for a photo before dashing off to the far more exciting face painting and other spooky activities. It was interesting to see the large numbers of Tibetan children that the hospital was treating this week. Apparently they send transport because those families cannot afford to travel to Shanghai.

Karen from Heart to Heart was extremely grateful for the donation which Trinity has made and we were quite humbled to think of the difference that our church has made to the lives of these beautiful children. It was an honor to visit on behalf of everyone and to pass on your blessings.

It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to visit a demilitarized zone! Actually the one between North and South Korea is the only one in existence at the moment. so this was a visit with a difference.

For starters it was quite safe (unless N Korea launched an attack but if that happened nowhere in Seoul would be safe!). It was however strictly controlled and we had our passports inspected at checkpoints going into and out of the area.

Our first stop was the Peace Park. On the other side of the beribboned fence soldiers marched and we were strictly forbidden from taking photographs.

The ribbons are left by families who have been separated and who want to remember their loved ones.

This memorial too is used by families at particular festivals when families are supposed to gather together. Many people put food on the large slab and share it between them. It is the nearest that many of them can get to their relatives.

This unassuming structure is the Freedom Bridge. It is the place where POWs were exchanged and as they come over from the north the prisoners joyfully shout ‘freedom’ giving the bridge it name.

The Dora Observatory was the place where we got to look across at North Korea ourselves.

All the trees and bushes in the DMZ are parts of South Korea. All the north side is open so that their guards can spot defectors trying to escape.

Because no one goes there we were told that wildlife is flourishing and rare species of animals and birds are repopulating the area. So that’s a good thing!

The thing which I found most amusing was the ‘Flag-off between the two countries. In the picture on the right you can see the white flagpole of South Korea. Harder to make out because it is blue and further away is the North Korean flag pole.

Anyway they both kept trying to outdo the other by extending the height of their flag pole. Finally North Korea made it into the Guinness World of Records for the tallest flag pole and the competition has stopped!

Finally we went to visit the 3rd Tunnel. There are actually 4 tunnels that the North Koreans have dug in an attempt to invade the South. Well, 4 that have been discovered. The whole DMZ could be honeycombed with tunnels for all we know! Apparently defectors told the south about them and the north claimed that they were tunneling for coal, except that the rock is granite so nobody bought that lie.

We weren’t allowed to take any photos but we were able to descend the 400 meter steep entrance and walk to the blockade that the south have erected to prevent an invasion. Technically this is the furthest anyone can go into N Korea at the moment.

All exciting stuff. Was it a ‘disneyfication’ of war and violence or is it the South telling the world what threats they live under. It was possible to purchase grenade and sub machine gun shaped chocolate!

One overwhelming feeling that comes across is how much the people of the south want unification. They want to be able to travel again and to see their families again. On the south side they are making many preparations for when that will happen.

These are statues to remember all the ‘comfort’ women who were abused during the Japanese occupation. These statues are dotted all over the country. Don’t the faces look young! At the DMZ there are two girls side by side, one ready to go to the north as soon as she can so that the people there can remember their women too.

One thing that we did reflect upon was the fact that at every point we were surrounded by coffee stalls, burger bars or noodle shops. Food was plentiful and easy to get. Yet we were told that in North Korea the people are starving due to the fact that most of the rice that they grow is exported (probably to pay for nuclear weapons) and they have suffered two years of bad harvests. It was such a poignant realization of the differences between the two styles of government.

I know that in the past tour groups have been allowed into the country but this is probably the nearest we will ever get to North Korea.

When we moved to Shanghai back in 2019, the plan had been to explore this part of the world and see as much as possible but COVID put a very firm stop to that. I’m not complaining because other doors have opened and I have been able to immerse myself in Taiji with all the benefits that has brought me. But now the world has opened up again and travel is possible so we are taking advantage of it.

This is our first school break where we ‘can’ explore a bit. It is Golden Week in China and a national holiday so it is a good idea to get out of the country. We have headed to Seoul to see some of Korea.

Actually we very nearly didn’t make it as Kevin, who has been a COVID virgin managed to contract the virus and he very kindly passed some on to me! Being his first time around Kevin had it worse than I did. Maybe I had some immunity. Kevin was down for about 7 days and I was off school for 3. It was touch and go but fortunately we both tested negative in time to fly this morning.

It felt good to be traveling again and on a plane going to explore somewhere new. Seoul is only 1:5 hours away from Shanghai so it was an easy trip.

Having said that, the flights were quite pricey because of being Golden Week so we had to bite the bullet on that. Being ever mindful of costs Kevin decided to save some money and booked us into a ‘budget’ hotel in the city centre. With not exactly enough room to swing a proverbial cat it’s more of a shoe box than anything else but I get the impression that most hotels are like this.

The location is good though being near Myeongdong which has lots of shops, restaurants and a lively night market full of street food vendors. Shanghai has missed a trick when it clamped down on street vendors. They give the place a certain vibrancy and atmosphere.

We wanted a sit down meal but have absolutely no idea about Korean food at all. We took a chance in a ‘Galbi’ restaurant. Galbi turned out to be a shared dish of chicken, sweetcorn, cabbage and cheese, which they cook in front of you in a huge skillet.

The hotel does have a rooftop terrace which was ideal for doing some early morning Taiji exercises (see previous lack of room in the room)

Today was a full day’s excursion to visit 3 (at least) palaces. All the palaces were built on the same format with an entrance gateway, a little bridge and then the wooden rooms around imposing courtyards. All were decorated in exactly the same pattern which was only allowed to be used by royalty.

And if I am totally honest they all began to merge into one another!

I do remember that each gate has 3 doors. The central one for the King. The one on the right for government officials and the one on the left for the military. Inside the courtyards this distinction was maintained as you can see from the road on different levels.

These courtyards were used for official ceremonies and so placed at strategic points were ‘ranking’ stones so that you knew where to line up according to your position at court.

One of the wonderful things here is the love of dressing up. You can rent Hanbok costumes for the day and people do. They wander around the historic sites looking resplendent in the most gorgeous colours, chiffons and silks. Leping and I would have enjoyed ourselves.

We also visited a Buddhist temple, and while it wasn’t a patch on the ones in Thailand I did like the environmental symbolism in their statues

Lunch was included and we were treated to a traditional Bibimbap (which sounds to me like a 60s pop song!) but in reality was a veg dish

In the afternoon we were subjected to the ‘hard sell’ at a Korean ginseng shop. We resisted on the grounds that a) it was hideously expensive and b) all the benefits that they listed can also be obtained by doing Taiji. I did like the ginseng display though. They look like tubes of mandrakes screaming to be released!!!

Finally, the Korean flag is interesting. The influences from China are clear. In the centre is a yin/Yang symbol (without the small dots). Then in 4 positions (starting at 2 o’clock) are the ba qua symbols of water, earth, fire and heaven.

At one palace we saw a re-enactment of the changing of the guards. They all wore colorful costumes and did a lot of drum banging!

The weather was glorious for October and if anything the sun was a bit strong but unlike Shanghai it wasn’t humid which made the walking easier.